City Islanders and D.C. United to square off in Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup quarters

Having coached against Major League Soccer sides on five occasions that mattered — and emerged with three victories — Bill Becher knows what to expect.

û A deep, formidable opponent stocked with talented players who prefer to come out quickly and impose their will before settling into a slick possession game that’s difficult to counter.

û A dangerous club with a sense of entitlement that competes in a league two levels higher than the USL Second Division Becher’s Harrisburg City Islanders call home.

Might seem to be a mismatch — particularly when comparing rosters — but the City Islanders (7-6-5, 4-6-5 in USL-2) have shown they can hang with Major League Soccer’s also-rans, mediocre sides and even some of its best when they perform well.

So when the City Islanders visit the Maryland SoccerPlex Wednesday night (7:30) for a date with D.C. United in the quarterfinals of the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup, they’re aware a top effort will be needed to get past another MLS club.

Even one of its worst.

Awaiting the winner of tonight’s game will be Columbus. Should Harrisburg prevail, the Eastern Conference leaders will host on Aug. 31.

“It’s going to be a challenge,” Becher said. “As we’ve said before, any time you play an MLS team, whether you’re playing a team that’s in first place or a team that’s struggling a bit, just the quality they have is going to make it hard for us.

“They’re a team that takes [the Open Cup] pretty serious and they want to win.”

So does a City Islanders club on a six-game unbeaten run.

Despite owning a perfect 3-0 mark against MLS clubs in the Open Cup’s round of 16 — Harrisburg sidelined United (1-0) in 2007, New England (2-1 in overtime) in ‘09 and New York (1-0 in OT) late last month — the City Islanders have yet to enjoy quarterfinal success.

While they’ve been competitive, falling behind led to 2-1 losses to New England in 2007 and United last season. Conceding two early restarts last year proved too taxing for a City Islanders club that created chances despite playing down a man for much of the second half.

“We’re going to have to be sound defensively,” Becher said. “Make sure we don’t give up too much of the ball. And when we get our chances, we’ve got to stick them in. ... We’ve just got to make sure we come out composed, ready to go and with the confidence that we can beat them.”

Red Bull tried to impose its superiority in the early moments of last month’s match at Skyline Sports Complex, but composed efforts from backs Dustin Bixler, Anthony Calvano, Jeritt Thayer and Tyler Ruthven prevented several pops from getting to keeper Danny Cepero.

Once the City Islanders realized they could play with a Red Bull contingent that sat many of its front-line players, Becher’s confident outfit began to take over.

Eventually, in OT, Dominic Oppong’s finish won it.

“Any time you get a chance to play against teams higher up, I think you use it as extra motivation,” Cepero said before the Red Bull scrap.

As for a physically beaten United side (8-11-3, 3-11-3 in MLS) that’s sitting dead last, just what lineup Curt Onalfo decides to employ is the overriding question yet to be answered. Does he go young and inexperienced? Or, does he go veteran and experienced? Or, does he mix and match?

While losses to Seattle (1-0) on Thursday and Los Angeles (2-1) on Sunday night extended United’s winless skid to an untidy four games, those latest setbacks came in sticky conditions, starching a D.C. roster already shortened by a lengthy injury list.

Regardless, expect 17-year-old Andy Najar to get some run. Impressive off the flanks against Seattle, the youngster drew praise from the Galaxy’s Landon Donovan after scoring in Sunday’s loss.

Stay tuned.

RESTARTS

Wingers Brian Ombiji (torn quad) and David Schofield (calf) will not play. Bixler (back) did not practice Monday, but is likely to play tonight. ... Calvano and midfielder Kai Kasiguran were named to the USL-2 team of the week. ... United won the 2008 Open Cup and finished second in ‘09.

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